Forever And Always
by EmzLuvzTom
Summary: Caroline Forbes left Mystic Falls 5 years ago and now she's back in town to attend her best friend Elena Gilbert's wedding to her boyfriend of 4 years Elijah Mikaelson. Whilst travelling Caroline met up with Keira, old friend of Elijah's. Will the wedding be a success or a disaster? New friendships are made, relationships are tested. The wedding that no one will ever forget is here
1. Chapter 1 : Intro

Caroline Forbes left Mystic Falls 5 years ago and now she's back in town to attend her best friend, Elena Gilbert's wedding to her boyfriend of 4 years, Elijah Mikaelson. Whilst travelling, Caroline met up with Keira, an old friend of Elijah's. Keira doesn't know anyone in Mystic Falls but that doesn't stop her from attending her best friend's wedding. Klaus Mikaelson is back in town and so is his family. Will he finally succeed in wooing Caroline's hearts? Will the wedding be a success or a disaster? New friendships are made, relationships are tested. The wedding that no one will ever forget is here.

* * *

Future Pairs:

Elejah - Elena and Elijah

Klaroline - Klaus and Caroline

Stebekah - Stefan and Rebekah

Kennett - Kol and Bonnie

Kamon - Keira and Damon


	2. Chapter 2 : Caroline meets Keira

**4 years ago**

Caroline was walking down the familiar back streets of New York city minding her own business when she was suddenly slammed against a fairly hard wooden fence.

"Now now darling, I'd advise you not to fight back if you don't want this stake to end up in your heart." The man who was holding Caroline against the fence said as he smirked at her. He looked to be in his late twenties and the thing that stood out most to Caroline about this man was the scar that ran from the top of his right eye all the way down to his chin.

"What do you want from me?" Caroline whispered as fear gripped her heart.

"I want to know where Niklaus Mikaelson is."

"Klaus? I don't know where he is. I haven't seen him in over 11 months." Caroline said then she whimpered as the man pressed the sharp wooden stake against her chest. "Please, I don't ... I can't help you with Klaus."

"But I can." The man holding Caroline looked over his shoulder and all the colour drained from his face causing Caroline to panic. If this man was scared of whoever had spoken then should she be? "Now I would really appreciate if you would step away from Miss Forbes."

"How ... I ..." The man stumbled over his words but quickly caught himself as his grip on Caroline tightened. "What are you doing here Keira? Jordan told us that he _made _you leave."

"It's a good job that I didn't leave otherwise you would have killed Miss Forbes here. Now I'm asking one more time Daniel, step away from Miss Forbes or I will end you." The man, Daniel looked deep in thought then he slowly stepped away from Caroline but Caroline didn't move away from the fence, she was frozen in fear. Daniel took another step away from Caroline which revealed who the mysterious woman was. Caroline was shocked when she saw the woman's face. _Impossible!_ Caroline thought as she recalled where she had seen a picture of this woman before. "Now would you like to explain to me why you are looking for the whereabouts of my best friend's brother." Caroline felt all the colour drain from her face as the woman confirmed what she had dreaded. The woman who had saved Caroline was not someone you wanted to be around. When Caroline lived in Mystic Falls over a year ago, she questioned Elijah Mikaelson about the woman who was in most of his pictures. Caroline trembled as she remembered what Klaus had told her. "Miss Forbes?" Caroline slowly looked up and was shocked to see this woman, Keira staring at her. "Did Daniel hurt you in any way?"

"Of course I didn't Keira, she's important to the ca ..." Caroline screamed as Daniel's limp body dropped to the ground. There was a hole in his chest and as Caroline looked up, she was horrified to see Keira stood holding Daniel's heart in her hand whilst wearing a sweet smile on her face.

"I'm sure Niklaus has told you all sorts of terrifying things about me Miss Forbes but do you really think that Elijah would be friends with someone so '_terrifying_'?"

* * *

**Present day in Mystic Falls**

Elena had just gotten off the phone with Caroline about 30 minutes ago and she was starting to worry because Caroline hadn't turned up yet. Elena started pacing back and forth in front of the airport and constantly kept checking her watch whilst her fiance Elijah, and his younger brother Kol were stood watching her.

"She'll be here soon dear."

"She landed over half an hour ago Elijah, what if something happened to her?" Elena whispered as a look of panic appeared on her face.

"If I remember Miss Forbes correctly, she would have so many bags with her and that is probably the reason for her being a little late." Kol said as he tried to calm down his soon to be sister in law.

"Or maybe ..." Elena said but was quickly cut off by a voice Elijah and Kol instantly recognised.

"She had to wait until I got myself a hot chocolate." Elena, Elijah and Kol all spun around and both Elijah's and Kol's mouths dropped open as they stared at the woman in front of them. "Well are you going to introduce me to your fiance or do I have to do it myself Eli?"

"Keira." Kol whispered as he continued staring at her in shock. "You're alive."

"Elena, I would like you to meet my best friend Keira. Keira, I would like you to meet my fiance Elena Gilbert." Elijah said once he had recovered from the shock of seeing his old friend alive let alone in Virginia.

"It's nice to meet you Keira. I've heard a lot about you from Elijah."

"All good things I hope." Keira said then she smiled once she looked Elena over. "Not bad Eli, not bad at all."

"Oh my god, I can't believe you left me with all the bags." Everybody spun around to see a tired looking Caroline gasping for breath as she walked out of the airport.

"I'm telling you Care, the look on their faces was worth it." Keira said then she smirked as Caroline was suddenly attacked by a very emotional Elena.

"I've missed you so much Care."

"I missed you too Elena." Caroline whispered and Keira couldn't help but giggle as the two friends hugged. _It was like they hadn't seen each other in years._ Keira thought as she rolled her eyes.

"How are you alive? Nik saw you dying." Kol asked causing all eyes to landed on Keira.

"It doesn't matter how." Keira whispered as she was instantly transported back to that painful day. They could see the tears in her eyes but knew better than to point it out. Klaus may have lied to Caroline about how terrifying Keira was but he was telling the truth about one thing. Weakness! Keira didn't like to seem weak and if someone pointed that out to her, they ended up dead. It was best to just act like nothing was happening.


	3. Chapter 3

**Keira**

_How dare he! How dare he lie, he never saw myself dying because he saved me that night. He saved me and I still owe the little shit._

Keira thought as the car stopped moving. Keira was surprised to see that they had arrived at a beautiful looking Mansion but what surprised Keira the most was that Kol, who had sat next to her the whole way, hadn't once said a word. Kol was always the one to make _unreasonable comments_ so it shocked Keira when all Kol did for the whole journey was stare at her with a blank expression on his face.

"Elena will show you the room which will be yours whilst you stay here with us Caroline." Elijah said and once the two young vampires had vanished, Keira was quickly cornered by the two original brothers. _Just great, another Mikaelson crisis intervention. Not had one of these in a while, last one I had happened to be with Eli and Niklaus. _Keira thought before the two original brothers started shooting questions at her.

"If all you are going to do is shoot questions at me then maybe I was wrong to come here." Keira snapped as her anger started to show. "Do you know how long it took Caroline to convince me to even think about showing my face? Well do you?"

"I ... Keira I ..."

"It took her 5 days then it was another 2 weeks of constant nagging before I gave in and said I would accompany her to Mystic Falls. Should I really have had to go through 2 weeks of nagging just to attend my best friend's wedding? Caroline dropped everything as soon as she heard about the wedding so why didn't I? Did you even think about how I'm feeling? How I would feel being back in Mystic Falls? Being in the presence of not just one Mikaelson but four? Do you even remember what happened the last time I was in the same place as all four of you Mikaelson's? Well do you? Because I do, I remember it as if it only happened yesterday." Keira looked from Elijah to Kol then she looked back at Elijah and shook her head as she smirked. "Guess Niklaus was right, Rebekah and I are similar after all. The only difference is that Rebekah loves to easily whilst I on the other hand trust to easily." The defeated look on Keira's face before she fled from the Mikaelson Family Mansion not only tugged at Elijah's heart but Kol's as well.

* * *

**Klaus**

The absence of Keira created such a tension in the Mikaelson Family Mansion that when Niklaus arrived with his sister Rebekah and her boyfriend Stefan Salvatore, he immediately realised something was wrong and a small part of his heart filled with worry. Niklaus was about to say something when a flash of blond hair appeared at the bottom of the staircase before Stefan was sent tumbling to the ground.

"Let Stefan breathe Caroline." Elijah said as he appeared half way down the stairs with a giggling Elena by his side. Niklaus' head quickly snapped to Stefan who was now slowing standing up whilst a very hyper looking Caroline Forbes stood in front of him. His eyes widened as they took in the form of the beautiful angel who wore the most stunning smile he had ever seen.

"Seems like someone missed me, yeh?" Stefan said then he chuckled as Caroline once again attacked him.

"Missed you?" Caroline asked as she pulled away from Stefan. "Why would I miss your ugly mug?" Caroline said then she giggled before she wrapped her arms around Stefan and gave him a hug. "I missed you Stef."

"I missed you too Care." Once the reunion between Stefan and Caroline was over, Niklaus turned and looked up at his older brother before he raised his eyebrow.

"Like to tell me why there is so much tension around here?" The three new arrivers were left shocked as Caroline, Elena and Elijah all looked down at the ground with frowns on their faces. The silence in the Mansion was suddenly disturbed as Caroline pulled her ringing phone from her pocket.

"Keira!" Caroline shouted causing a look of hope to appear on Elijah's face for a couple of seconds before it was hidden but Niklaus was quick enough to catch it. "Are you ok? I heard the fight you had with Elijah and Kol."

"Don't go worr ... worrying about little old me Carebear." The female voice sounded familiar to Niklaus but he couldn't quiet place how he knew it.

"You're drunk." Caroline whispered looking worried. "Where are you darling? I'll come and pick you up then bring you straight back to the Mikaelson's so that you can sleep."

"I don't think I ... I'll be doing much sleeping tonight." A giggle filled the room and Niklaus was slightly confused because it sounded like the giggle came from inside the Mansion and not from through the phone. "Shhhh, we can't ... hmm ... that feels so good ... I've got ... got to go Care, something came ... hmm ... came up."

"Keira as in The Dark Princess?" Rebekah asked and Niklaus was shocked when Elijah slowly nodded his head. "But ... she's dead. Nik saw her die." Niklaus gulped as all eyes turned and locked on him.

"Let's just say that Niklaus was wrong." All eyes turned to the top of the stairs and Niklaus' mouth dropped open as he saw the one woman who he never expected to see again. Keira, Elijah's best friend was stood at the top of the stairs only wearing what looked to be a guys shirt and there was a smirk on her face but that vanished as her eyes widened when they locked with Stefan's. "Stef ... Stefan?" Keira asked and she gulped as Stefan nodded his head.

"It's nice to see you again Keira." Stefan whispered as hatred dripped from his tone. Niklaus raised an eyebrow at Stefan before he looked at Keira who was shaking slightly.

"I ... I didn't know you knew the Mikaelson's." Keira said and the fear in her voice made Niklaus panic. Not that he would let anyone see he was panicked, he would never live it down if his siblings found out that he did in fact have a soft spot for Keira.

"Stefan's my boyfriend _bitch_." Rebekah snapped as her eyes narrowed.

"I ... oh god ... I'm so sor ..." Keira froze as she nearly allowed that word to leave her mouth. "Why did you never tell me? I would ... wouldn't have allowed ..."

"Allowed what Keira? For myself to be captured? You were my friend and you just allowed _him_ to waltz in and attack me. That's not what friends do." Stefan shouted as he took a step forward. Niklaus had never seen Stefan look so angry before and he had never seen Keira, who he knew as a strong and confident young woman to stumble backwards from fear.

"You don't ... you don't understand Stef."

"Only my friends get to call me Stef." Stefan snapped and a sob erupted from Keira's mouth as tears rolled down her face. "What are you doing here Keira? I thought I warned you about coming back to Mystic Falls."

"I came for Eli's wedding." Keira whispered and Niklaus felt a pull at his heart at how vulnerable she looked. "I can leave if you wanted Stefan." Everybody turned to stare at Stefan and were shocked when he looked down at the ground. "I'll ... I'll just go and collect my things then." One second Keira was stood at the top of the stairs and the next, Kol was stood in her place looking very angry indeed. Before Kol even got a chance to say anything, Keira was stood by his side holding out the top she was just wearing. Niklaus was shocked when he noticed that all Keira had was a small bag on her back, was that all her things? "Here's ... Here's your top back Kol."

"You aren't leaving Keira." Kol snapped as he continued glaring at Stefan.


	4. Chapter 4 : Calling in a favour

**Keira**

"You aren't leaving Keira." Keira felt conflicted. On one hand she had Stefan who wanted her to leave and on the other hand she had Kol who wanted, who was telling her to stay.

"You're only saying that Kol because the _bitch_ warmed your bed for you." Keira couldn't control the tears as they cascaded down her cheeks.

"I didn't sleep with him." Keira whispered as she stared at her hands which were shaking uncontrollably.

"I wasn't speaking to you _slut_." Rebekah snapped causing more tears to fall from Keira's eyes.

"Rebekah." Elijah shouted. "I will not have you speaking to Keira like that."

"And for your information _darling sister_." Kol snapped as he took a step towards Keira who out of fear took one backwards. "Keira hasn't slept with me. We were having a nice chat about what she has been up to since I last saw her."

"Of course you would say that, you just don't want your little slut to leave." Keira couldn't take it anymore so she rushed down the stairs and over to the front door of the Mansion.

"Elijah, you can't just let Keira leave." Kol shouted causing Keira to look over her shoulder and stare at her once very good friend.

"Come on Elena." Elijah whispered then he escorted Elena down the rest of the stairs then they vanished from the entrance room. _I think my heart just broke._ Keira thought then she noticed that Niklaus was staring at her looking concerned. She quickly wiped all emotion from her face and placed her temporary emotional barrier back up. She was back to the girl who felt nothing, she was back to the girl who had no emotions and she was back to the girl who was alone in this world.

"Thank you for the lovely talk Kol but you are wrong. The Keira you all once knew is no longer here." Keira looked around the room and her eyes locked with Caroline's. "It was nice knowing you Caroline, you reminded me these past four years of what I used to be like before _it_ happened. I'm glad I was around to save you from Daniel." Keira opened the front door, took a step outside and breathed in the fresh air before she turned and faced everybody. "I know you probably won't believe me when I say this Stefan but I need to say it before I go back to the heartless bitch that I was four years ago until I allowed Caroline to bring my humanity back out. I'm sorry that I ruined our friendship, I'm sorry that I allowed you to be captured by _him _and I'm sorry that I did nothing to stop _him._" Keira stared into Stefan's cold eyes and because her temporary emotional barrier was up, she didn't feel a thing. "I would never have allowed anything to happen to you if he didn't have my life in his hands." Keira turned on her heels and ran, ran with everything she had. Her legs gave way and before she knew it, Keira had lowered all of her barriers and allowed all the emotions she had held back since she had turned into this monster to eat away at her.

* * *

**Kol**

"What did she mean when she said 'save you from Daniel'?" Nik asked as he stared at Caroline who was glaring at Stefan. _You aren't the only one angry with him darling_. Kol thought as he flashed down the stairs.

"I had been in New York for a while when Daniel appeared out of nowhere and attacked me. He had a stake above my heart and was asking me where you were. If it wasn't for Keira killing him then I would be dead." Caroline whispered then she hissed before attacking Stefan. "I spent four years helping her change and you just ruined that because you didn't let her explain. She lowered nearly all her barriers and became a vampire with humanity and now everything I told her will feel like a lie because of you. How could you say that to her? How could you Stefan?" Caroline shouted as she continued punching Stefan until Nik was able to pull her away. Kol watched in amusement as a very angry Caroline fought to get out of Nik's grip.

"She allowed Jordan to attack me Caroline." Stefan shouted. Kol was surprised when Caroline gasped and stopped fighting to get away from Nik. The colour drained from her face as tears built up in her eyes. Nik spun Caroline around and quickly held her face in the palms of his hands.

"What's wrong love?"

"He killed her little brother." Caroline whispered then she broke down crying in Nik's arms.

"Jordan attacked you?" Kol asked and he gulped as Stefan nodded. "Shit." Kol whispered then he ran over to Caroline and pulled her out of Nik's arms. "Where would Keira go Caroline? Where would she go?"

"What the hell Kol?" Nik shouted but Kol ignored him as he continued screaming at Caroline.

"He's after her Caroline." Kol whispered and was surprised when Caroline looked up and stared at him looking confused with tears rolling down her face. "Keira lied to you Caroline, she lied about being safe because she didn't want to worry you."

"What do you mean Kol? Jordan's dead, Keira killed him as revenge for killing her little brother." Kol shook his head and sighed. "Jordan's alive isn't he?" Caroline whispered and gasped as Kol nodded his head. _You are an idiot for lying Keira._ Kol thought as he ran his hand through his hair.

"Who's Jordan?" Rebekah asked as she sat down and that's when Kol noticed that they had all moved to the living room where Elijah and Elena had gone to before Keira left.

"Jordan's the person who made Keira place barriers up to protect herself and he was also the one who made her turn off her humanity when he killed her little brother." Caroline whispered.

"Is that all Keira told you about him?" Kol asked as he eyed Caroline who didn't seem to realise that she was allowing Nik to comfort her.

"She also told me that Jordan was the person who had tried to kill her once and he nearly succeeded but someone saved her." Kol chuckled as he shook his head. He knew Keira was trying to keep Caroline safe by lying to her but why lie about so much? "That was a lie also wasn't it?"

"It all started the day after Keira was turned. She didn't know she was any different than before so she went about her day as normal. When she met up with her boyfriend, things got a bit heated and she lost control. She killed her boyfriend and completed her transition."

"What does this have to do with Jordan?" Stefan asked as he pulled Rebekah into his side and Kol couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Her boyfriend was Jordan's brother. She confided in him about what she had done and he came to the conclusion that she was a vampire. Keira thought Jordan was helping her but one day, she came home at lunch time to see her little brother with his throat ripped out. On the wall, written in her little brothers blood was a message."

"What did the message say Kol?" Caroline asked but frowned as Kol shook his head.

"She asked what the message said Kol." Nik snapped and Kol couldn't help but sigh before he thought back to what Keira had told him in her drunken state.

"A brother for a brother isn't enough for me Keira so watch your back." Kol watched as everybody let that little bit of information sink into their minds before he started speaking again. "She spent months on the run from Jordan and that's when she met Elijah. They became quite close and in the time she spent with him, she forgot all about how Jordan was just waiting to end her life. Can you imagine her surprise when the one night she didn't spend in the company of Elijah, was the night that Jordan decided to show his face? That night Jordan staked Keira in her stomach before a witch cast the spell that linked the two of them together."

"Is that what she meant before when she said 'if he didn't have my life in his hands'?" Stefan asked and his face dropped once Kol nodded.

"Not only does Jordan have the power to kill Keira any second, he can also kind of control her mind. It's like the sire bond Nik has with his hybrids."

"You mean he can place something in her mind and she has to do it?" Caroline asked then she groaned. "Of course, why didn't I work it out sooner."

"Work what out love?"

"Keira has only been able to break the bond between herself and Jordan once and that was when she saved Miss Forbes here." Kol said then he smiled at Caroline.

"Daniel looked and sounded surprised to see Keira and now it all makes sense. He said 'Jordan told us that he _made _you leave'. Once she saved me, she explained that she was on her way out of New York when she heard the name Klaus. Her friendship to you Elijah was enough for her to break her bond with Jordan to make sure nothing would happen to your family."

"Now I'm going to ask you again Caroline, where will Keira go? You've known her for the past four years, you've seen her grow from a cold heartless bitch into a girl who would do anything to protect the ones she cares for."

"I don't ... I don't know. She'll have put her temporary barriers back up but they will soon be down and every single emotion she had hidden away since she was turned will come back at her full force. Let me try ringing her." Kol watched as his older brother Nik placed his hand on top of Caroline's and shook his head.

"I'll ring her, she'll have to pick up because she owes me."

"Why does she owe you Niklaus?" Elijah asked sounding as confused as Kol felt.

"I wasn't lying when I said that I saw Keira dying, Jordan had used his power to start the killing process and when I saw her lying on the ground, I realised that the hatred I felt for her was really just there to cover up the fact that I had started to think of her like a little sister. I fed her my blood and now she believes that she owes me so I think it might just be about time that I called in that favour."


	5. Chapter 5

**Keira**

"Are you ok?" Keira looked up as someone placed their hand on her arm. "What are you doing out here on your own?"

"I ... I had to leave." Keira whispered as she quickly wiped away her tears.

"Do you have anywhere to stay ..."

"Keira, my name is Keira."

"Do you have anywhere to stay Keira?" Keira slowly shook her head then she allowed herself to take in the man in front of her. The stranger appeared to be in his mid-20s, had light blue eyes and dark brown hair that went to just below his ears. He was wearing black boots under a pair of dark jeans, a black shirt and a leather jacket. There was only one word to describe this stranger and that was perfect. "Would you like to stay with me? I've got plenty of spare rooms."

"I ... I don't even know your name."

"Oh I'm sorry, I totally forgot about introducing myself. My name is Damon, Damon Salvatore and it's a pleasure to meet you Keira." Keira felt herself flinch away from him once she heard his surname.

"You're a Salvatore?" As soon as Damon nodded, Keira was up on her feet backing away from him. "I'm sor ... please don't tell Stefan I'm still here."

"You're worried about my brother?" The sentence came out as more of a question than a statement so Keira slowly nodded her head. "What happened between the two of you? Is he the reason why you had to leave wherever it was?"

"I'm ... I'm not on his good side." Keira watched as a smirk made its way onto Damon's face and she found that she was feeling safer with him once the smirk had appeared on his face.

"Then I defiantly think you should stay with me Keira, for I am not on his good side either." Keira was just about to say something when the sound of her phone ringing surprised her. The ringing stopped for a couple of seconds then it started again and Keira was starting to get annoyed when this carried on for what felt like hours. "Seems whoever is ringing really needs to get ahold of you." Keira pulled her phone out of her pocket and groaned as she saw the caller ID. Niklaus.

"Well he can wait." Keira snapped then she smiled as Damon chuckled.

"I'm liking you more and more as each second passes Miss Keira."

"Why thank you Mr Salvatore." Her phone continued ringing and Keira's anger was just about to take over but it quickly turned into surprise as Damon pulled the phone from her hand and answered it.

"Listen mate, Keira isn't available at the moment but I'd be more than happy to pass on a message once she's no longer tied up." Keira quickly covered her mouth to try and stop the giggle from escaping but she wasn't successful once she heard the growl coming from the other end of the phone.

"I am not your mate and where is she, Salvatore?" Keira watched as a look of surprise appeared on Damon's face for a couple of seconds before it was replaced with humour.

"Like I said the first time Klaus, she's not available at the moment so I can pass on a message once she's no longer tied up." Keira was able to make out what sounded like someone sighing before the phone was unmistakably passed to another person.

"Listen Damon, we need to know where Keira is."

"No 'Hello Brother, how have you been?', I am disappointed Stefan." Damon said then he winked at Keira who was grinning. "I believe you are the reason for Keira leaving as well as crying her heart out little brother so please enlighten me with why you want to know where she is?"

"I let my anger get the better of me Damon, I never meant to cause her pain. I ... is she safe? If you can't tell me where she is then please just tell me if she is safe." The look of surprise on Damon's face as Keira hung up on Stefan made her giggle.

"Feisty little devil aren't you."

"You have no idea." Keira whispered as she smirked at him. She lent towards his face and she couldn't help but feel powerful as Damon's eyes closed and a groan left his mouth. She let her lips touch Damon's ear for a couple of seconds before she opened her mouth and spoke six words. "Race You To The Boarding House."

* * *

**Caroline**

"I still don't get it. Why did Keira have both her humanity off and have barriers up? She wouldn't need barriers if her humanity was off right?" Rebekah asked causing Caroline to roll her eyes whilst Kol shook his head.

"Keira's different from normal vampires." Kol whispered then he sighed.

"When she flipped her humanity switch, her humanity wasn't fully gone. Her switch kind of just dims her emotions so she needed barriers up so that she didn't feel the emotions that were dimmed." Caroline said as she stared down at her hands. "Keira has many barriers such as her emotional barrier and her temporary emotional barrier. I've been working with her for the past four years and I've still not managed to get her to lower every barrier she has. The first thing I did was make her change most of her barriers from full to only temporary which meant that every single day, she would feel a couple of emotions here and there but it wasn't enough to completely scare her away from turning her humanity back on."

"When did you finally get her to turn her humanity back on?" Klaus asked as he reached over and grabbed ahold of Caroline's hand which made her jump. "Didn't mean to scare you love."

"It's ok and it was about 3 years ago when she finally turned her humanity back on. She still had her temporary emotional barrier up until about a year ago, I was actually surprised when she let it vanish."

"Why's that? Did something happen to Keira to make her lower it?" Elijah asked and Caroline could see how much he was hurting. Maybe he realised how much of an idiot he had been. Maybe he felt guilty for not protecting Keira from Jordan and Rebekah. Caroline thought then she took a deep breathe before trying to remember the day that Keira lowered her emotional barrier.

"It was a Tuesday morning and I hadn't seen Keira since Saturday but that was partly normal because she always came home after me and she would leave in the morning before I even got up. I was starting to panic when she didn't turn up Monday evening because in the whole 3 years that I had known Keira, she had never been away for more than 36 hours but I just thought she had lost track of time or something like that. I choose to ignore the bad feeling in my stomach and went to bed. I was woken up Tuesday morning by the sound of crying coming from the room next to mine. The one thing that Keira's temporary emotional barrier stopped was the feeling of sadness so you can understand why I was surprised when I found Keira huddled in the corner of her room with tears rolling down her face. Turns out she had been meeting up with an old friend from the past when they were both surrounded by werewolves." Caroline could feel the tears threatening to over flow as her throat felt like it was closing in on her.

"It's ok if you want to take a break Care." Stefan whispered and everybody was shocked when Caroline shook her head before she wiped her eyes.

"Keira said that they were both surrounded by werewolves Sunday night and she had only gained consciousness midday on Monday. She told me that she recognised the house because it belonged to the friend who she had met up with. She found him in the living room and he explained to her that he was able to get them away from the werewolves and Keira was extremely grateful but that all changed when ... when he suddenly started to cough up blood. Turns out that he had stood over Keira when she was unconscious and a werewolf had bitten him. He died in her arms less than ten minutes later and Keira finally lost it, she lowered her temporary barrier and allowed herself to grieve for the loss of what she believed was her last remaining friend. It took her a good week and a half to come to terms with his death and she's had her emotional barrier lowered since then."

"I ... I just ... oh god." Stefan whispered and Caroline felt sorry for him. "I've ... I've lost my best friend."

"You sure as hell better hope that Keira is safe with your brother or so help me Salvatore, I will rip your heart out after I torture you so much that you ask me to kill you." Kol snapped then he vanished from the room and Caroline was quickly to follow after him.

"Hey ... um ... Kol?"

"What do you want Caroline?" Kol asked as he looked over at her from his bed.

"I ... I just wanted to say thank you for looking after Keira when she was drunk even though you didn't have too."

"I had too, it's my job to make sure Keira is safe."

"Why do you think that?" Caroline asked then she weakly smiled as Kol patted the spot next to him on his bed. Caroline closed the door to Kol's room before she sat down next to him.

"Do you promise that what I am about to tell you doesn't go any further?" Kol asked and Caroline saw and heard how much Keira being away was hurting him. When Caroline nodded her head, Kol started speaking. "I'd grown closer to Keira in the time that she had spent being friends with Elijah but you wouldn't have called us anything other than acquaintances. I decided to leave my family and about 100 years later, I was living in this little town when I accidentally bumped into another vampire."

"It was Keira wasn't it?" Caroline asked and smiled when Kol nodded.

"We seemed to be bumping into each other a lot over the next couple of weeks and after having a drink together one night, I found out that she had left Elijah's side not long after I had left my family. I invited her to stay with me that night and it eventually turned into her staying with me until I left town which was a couple of months later. I had grown even closer to Keira and at that point, I would have called ourselves friends. I knew she was worried about something so I asked her to join me when I decided to leave town and she accepted. We spent the next 70 something years travelling together and she quickly became like a little sister to me. I was so protective over her and it worried me because I had never been that protective over Rebekah so I left, I left in the middle of the night whilst she was asleep and I made myself forget her. I pushed all the memories we had made together to the back of my mind then it was a good couple of centuries later before I saw her again. She was back by Elijah's side and I expected her to smile at me like she did when we were living together but all she did was move so Elijah was blocking half of her from my sight."

"You don't have to tell me if it is upsetting you this much." Caroline whispered as she stared at Kol slightly shocked because he had tears rolling down his face. She thought he wasn't capable of feeling anything or at least that is what the rest of his family portrayed him as.

"We all had decided to go out one night but Keira didn't want too so Elijah offered to stay with her. I made it seem as if I had left then I stood outside the door and listened to their conversation. I remember it as if it was yesterday."


End file.
